大乘寶要義論

As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Flower Adornment Sūtra) says: Mahāvairocana, the liberated and auspicious one, within the world of the Tathāgata Universally Pervading Wisdom-Flame Merit Banner King, established immeasurable sentient beings, causing them to abide in the stage of the Śrāvaka. Immeasurable sentient beings he ripened in the bodhi of the Pratyekabuddha. Immeasurable sentient beings he ripened in the bodhi born of swift and nimble eloquence.

Immeasurable sentient beings he ripened in the bodhi born of the stainless banner of diligence. Immeasurable sentient beings he ripened in the bodhi born of the manifest wealth of the Dharma. Immeasurable sentient beings he ripened in the bodhi born of the eloquence of pure faculties.

Immeasurable sentient beings he ripened in the bodhi born of the perfect fulfillment of all the practices of the ten powers. Immeasurable sentient beings he caused to abide in the bodhi born of the One Vehicle, the realm where the accomplished Dharma is made manifest. Immeasurable sentient beings he caused to be born in the bodhi of the One Vehicle's principle and Dharma, which in all places manifests every kind of spiritual power.

Immeasurable sentient beings he caused to establish all the practices, born of the bodhi that universally embraces immeasurable skillful means. Immeasurable sentient beings he caused to abide in the bodhi born of the principle and Dharma of the stages of samādhi. Immeasurable sentient beings he caused to abide in the bodhi born of the principle and Dharma of the pure bodhimaṇḍa, which is the object of all places of conditioned arising.

Immeasurable sentient beings gave rise to the bodhicitta of the Bodhisattva. Immeasurable sentient beings abide in the path of the Bodhisattva. Immeasurable sentient beings abide in the pure path of the pāramitās.

Immeasurable sentient beings abide in the first stage of the Bodhisattva, on up to abiding in the tenth stage of the Bodhisattva.

Here one should know: the Bodhisattva ever embraces and upholds all the true Dharma. What does it mean to embrace and uphold the true Dharma? As the Sūtra of Entering the Seal of the Dharma Gate through the Power of Faith says: The Buddha declared—O Mañjuśrī (Wondrous Auspiciousness)! The embracing of the true Dharma is the embracing by the Bodhisattva. Because the Bodhisattva embraces, the true Dharma is embraced. Because the true Dharma is embraced, all sentient beings are embraced. Because all sentient beings are embraced, the lineage of the Buddhas is not severed, and what is undertaken is brought to accomplishment.

Furthermore, if one wishes to cause the lineage of the Buddhas not to be lost, wishes to destroy all the karmic afflictions of sentient beings, wishes to close every gate that leads into the evil destinies, wishes to receive the supreme and wondrous bliss of immeasurable, countless Wheel-Turning Sage Kings (Cakravartins), and on up to the joys of Brahmā the King, Śakra the Lord (Indra), the world-protectors, and so forth, wishes to sever and eliminate all the harm of evil Māras—and on up to wishing to accomplish the fruit of Anuttarā Samyak Saṃbodhi—one must embrace and uphold the true Dharma.

Here one should ask: A Bodhisattva who has only just given rise to the aspiration has but slight roots of goodness; how then is he able to embrace and uphold the true Dharma?

As the Bodhisattva Piṭaka Sūtra says: The Bodhisattva who is fully endowed with four kinds of dharmas neither diminishes in bodhi nor, when reborn, will become a Wheel-Turning Sage King. By this power of vows he obtains all roots of goodness and, following along, obtains a body firm and solid like the great-strength Nārāyaṇa. Having become a Wheel-Turning Sage King, he then cultivates the four brahma-conducts and is reborn in the brahma world as lord of the realm of the Brahmā Heaven. What are the four?

First, the Bodhisattva, seeing a stūpa or shrine of the Tathāgata that has fallen into ruin, at once gives rise to a valiant and courageous mind and repairs it—even offering and dedicating a single drop of mud.

Second, at a crossroads or by the wall of a marketplace, he establishes a lofty and beautiful stūpa or shrine of the Tathāgata; or an image at a tomb-shrine; or, as fits the occasion, he sets up banners and pennants; or he uses an image carved of bamboo; or he sets up an image of the Tathāgata; or, distinctly, he sets up some other figure of the Tathāgata—on up to the figure of the Turning of the Dharma Wheel, or the figure of leaving the city to go forth into homelessness; or the figure of sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree and attaining perfect enlightenment; or the figure of manifesting great spiritual power and subduing Māra; or the figure of manifesting entry into the Great Nirvāṇa; or the figure of descending into the world from the Trāyastriṃśa (Heaven of the Thirty-Three).

Third, seeing among the disciples of the Śrāvakas that there is division and estrangement, he at once brings about harmony and reconciliation.

Fourth, regarding the teachings handed down by the Tathāgata, when he sees that the true Dharma is about to be diminished and destroyed, then even by a single verse of four lines he diligently guards and upholds it, causing it to circulate and not be lost. Moreover, toward the true Dharma, or toward the Dharma master who expounds the Dharma, he embraces and upholds them all—even to the point of losing his body and life, he does not abandon the Dharma.

The Ratnamegha Sūtra (Jewel Cloud Sūtra) says: The Buddha taught—O good sons! The Bodhisattva who is fully endowed with ten kinds of dharmas is then able to embrace and uphold the true Dharma. What are the ten?

First, in the latter five hundred years of the future age, when the true Dharma is diminished, when within the teachings of the Tathāgata confusion and disorder arise, and when most of the sentient beings dwell upon wrong paths and so lose the wisdom that realizes the unsurpassed teacher's bestowal—at that time he should employ the many scriptures of great power and majesty to embrace their vast meaning, which is like the root of all dharmas, and revere and make offerings to them, receive and uphold them, read and recite them, proclaim, expound, and explain them.

Second, for the sake of those beings he sets forth the profound meaning of the scriptures, explaining and revealing it so as to make it clearly understood.

Third, toward those who cultivate and realize the path, he gives rise to a mind of pure and joyful gladness.

Fourth, having become joyful, for their sake he embraces and upholds them.

Fifth, with a mind free of attachment, for their sake he expounds the Dharma, causing them to be willing to listen.

Sixth, toward the one who expounds the Dharma, he gives rise to reverence and faith.

Seventh, toward the true Dharma, he gives rise to the thought of ambrosia (amṛta).

Eighth, toward the true Dharma, he holds the thought that it is like excellent medicine.

Ninth, he does not begrudge body and life in seeking the true Dharma.

Tenth, once he has obtained the Dharma, he cultivates and practices it just as it has been taught.

These are the ten dharmas.

According to the Sūtra of the Tranquil and Quiescent Resolute Spiritual Transformation, it says: The Buddha declared—O Bhadrapāla (Worthy Protector)! The Bodhisattva who is fully endowed with four dharmas is then able to embrace and uphold the true Dharma. What are the four?

First, with regard to his own pleasure and comfort, he does not crave, become defiled by, or cling to it.

Second, he gives to others, that they too may have a measure of joy.

Third, he is fully endowed with the mind of great compassion.

Fourth, he seeks the Dharma without weariness.

This sūtra further says: Once in a past age there was a King of Stainless Majestic Radiance who, before a Great Tathāgata, for a full thousand years cultivated roots of goodness and used all manner of objects of delight to make offerings to that Buddha—even providing the four necessities to eighty-four thousand bhikṣus. In this way he passed a full thousand years. Then the Tathāgata of Great Loftiness said to the King of Stainless Majestic Radiance:

O Great King! In this way, for a full thousand years, you have performed acts of giving in the Dharma before the Tathāgata. Yet if one compares this diligent labor in seeking the Dharma, the roots of goodness present in a single breath, in and out, of the Bodhisattva's seeking of the Dharma—a hundred parts of your merit do not equal one part of it. Even to the smallest fraction, the Upaniṣad part, it still does not equal one. How much more so when, toward the true Dharma, one undertakes even a single verse of four lines, proclaiming, expounding, and explaining this meaning? The utmost limit of that merit I cannot describe.

O Great King! Furthermore, regarding this matter—suppose one acts thus for a full thousand years, even with such giving and offering as making offerings to a single wandering bhikṣu or giving alms to all the assembly of bhikṣus. Yet if in that place one exhorts others to practice, proclaims and expounds and reveals the station of the Bodhisattva, so that the Dharma-joy is therein revered, gives rise to pure faith, and one observes restraint even in eating and drinking, giving birth to a mind such as this: "For the sake of seeking perfect enlightenment, that Dharma, compared with this food and drink, is given but rarely"—then the former giving of the Dharma, compared with this root of goodness, is such that a hundred parts do not equal one.

Even to the Upaniṣad part, it still does not equal one.

The Tathāgata Secret Sūtra says: Even the merit-aggregate of a Bodhisattva, if compared with the merit-aggregate of embracing and upholding the true Dharma, is in this matter doubled. Indeed, were one to cause all the Buddhas diligently to proclaim it throughout koṭi-fold kalpas, they could not exhaust the utmost limit of the merit-aggregate of upholding the true Dharma. What, then, is the true Dharma?

As the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra (the Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā) teaches: This true Dharma is a designation for the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna). Why is this so? Because the Great Vehicle gives birth to the vehicle of the Śrāvakas, the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddhas, and on up to all the wholesome dharmas of the world and beyond the world.

The Dharma-Collection Sūtra says: That embracing and upholding of the true Dharma is this: toward all the Tathāgatas, toward those teachings that are most profound—those most profound scriptures—one proclaims, expounds, receives, and with concentrated mind contemplates them. This is the embracing and upholding of the true Dharma. One should know that if Bodhisattvas, relying upon attachment, act so as to make offerings to the Tathāgatas through immeasurable spans of time, they will still not receive a prediction of enlightenment from those Buddhas—how much less attain enlightenment itself.

As the Sūtra of the Questions of Brahmā King says: The Buddha declared—O Great Brahmā! Were I, for a kalpa or more than a kalpa, to proclaim the names of those Tathāgatas, and then make offerings to all those Tathāgatas, or moreover cultivate the brahma-conduct before them and cultivate the six pāramitās—I would still not have received a prediction from those Buddhas. Why is this so?

Because in what I did there was a place of reliance and attachment. If at that time, before the Tathāgata Dīpaṃkara, when I saw that Buddha, I at once attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), then that Buddha, the World-Honored One, gave me a prediction. At that time I transcended all that is done with effort and was fully endowed with the six pāramitās.

Toward that most profound Dharma I was able to give rise to faith and understanding. Therefore, the Bodhisattvas, in benefiting themselves and benefiting others, perform the most supreme deeds and bring them all to perfect completion.

The Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra (Great Collection Sūtra), the Chapter of the Moon Treasury (Candragarbha), says: The Buddha declared—O Candragarbha (Moon Treasury)! That supreme-meaning truth (paramārtha-satya) is able to accomplish Anuttarā Samyak Saṃbodhi; it is not the possession of any of the Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas. Therefore the conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya) cannot accomplish the supreme roots of goodness of Anuttarā Samyak Saṃbodhi together with the various supreme practices.

Candragarbha! It is like a person holding a single torch who cannot dry up the great ocean. So too is it with that conventional truth.

It cannot even burn up the very ocean of one's own afflictions—how much less those of other sentient beings. Within this, how could one have faith and understanding of that profound Dharma?

As the Bodhisattva Piṭaka Sūtra says: The Bodhisattva has two kinds of wisdom. The first is that which comes from the Śrāvaka. The second is the profound and firm directing of attention of one's own mind.

Here, what is "that which comes from the Śrāvaka"?

Suppose there is a Bodhisattva who, though he delights in cultivating the various corresponding practices, yet toward the true Dharma of the Bodhisattva Piṭaka takes no delight in hearing and receiving it. Furthermore, he takes no delight in hearing the noble Dharma and discipline. Toward the small savor of concentration he gives rise to a mind of contentment.

The mind of arrogance burns and flourishes within him, so that he falls into overweening pride (adhimāna); and that Bodhisattva cannot gain liberation from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and distress. Furthermore, he is not liberated from the six realms of saṃsāra. Furthermore, he cannot be liberated from the aggregate of suffering.

And as for that condition, the Tathāgata says it is "that which comes from the Śrāvaka"—for what is heard thereby cannot bring liberation from the law of old age and death, and so forth.

What does it mean to perform the profound and firm directing of attention?

It means that the Bodhisattva, of himself, directs his attention to learning. There is no dharma whatever that can be conjoined, nor again any that is non-conjoined. This is the profound and firm practice.

This profound and firm practice is precisely a practice that is not a mere designation. Hearing in this way—whether before or after—he understands clearly, in accord with reality, from where things arise and from where they cease. He is moreover able to speak of their meaning and principle, whether of severance or of realization; whether of what has been spoken or of what will be spoken.

All of these he understands clearly, in accord with reality. There is no mark of the past, no mark of the future, no mark of the present that can be apprehended. That is to say, the self-nature of all dharmas is utterly quiescent.

Their self-nature is tranquil and quiescent, their self-nature is perfectly complete, ultimately without arising, and not real. Thus one should contemplate that all dharmas are ultimately Nirvāṇa. If one is able to contemplate in this way, then there is nothing contemplated, yet neither is it a non-contemplation.

This is named right contemplation. How, then, could all dharmas be contemplated as truly existent? This, then, is the absence of anything contemplated.

And this absence of anything contemplated is precisely a designation for non-arising. If all dharmas are non-arising, then this does not transgress the right principle. All dharmas are equal—this is the equality of the Buddha-Dharma.

To speak thus is not to transgress the right principle. This is named the profound and firm directing of attention. In this way, on up to where one is able to understand and enter the supreme, most profound true Dharma.

The Father and Son Assembly Sūtra (Pitāputra-samāgama) says: The Buddha said to King Śuddhodana:

O Great King! At the time of the kalpa of emptiness, there may appear, set forth before us, the towers and palaces of the Brahmā Heaven. Formed of the seven precious substances, they are of a firm, solid, and true nature.

If they arise into being, from where do they come? In this way too the towers and palaces of the desire realm—the Heaven of Mastery over Others' Creations (Paranirmita-vaśavartin), the Heaven of Delight in Creation (Nirmāṇarati), the Tuṣita Heaven, the Yāma Heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, the Heaven of the Four Great Heavenly Kings, and so forth—all appear formed of the seven jewels. Moreover, the Cakravāḍa Mountains (Iron Ring Mountains) and the Great Cakravāḍa Mountains are encircled by, and formed of, a single kind of adamant (vajra).

In this way, those mountains of firm, solid, and true nature—from where do they come? Furthermore, Mount Sumeru, the Mountain of Yugaṃdhara, the Twin-Holding Mountain (Īśādhara), the Axle-Holding Mountain (Khadiraka), the Adamant-Holding Mountain, the Karmāra Mountain, the Vinataka Mountain, the Horse-Ear Mountain (Aśvakarṇa), the Sudarśana Mountain (Well-Seen Mountain), the Mountain of Great Joyful Beholding, the Uttaraka Mountain, the Fragrant-Intoxication Mountain (Gandhamādana), the Snow Mountain (Himavat), and on up to the Black Mountain—all appear set forth before us, on up to all the trichiliocosms (the great trichiliocosm of three-thousandfold worlds), all of which come into appearance.

They cause that Mount Sumeru, King of mountains, to shift and change by eighty thousand yojanas. This firm, solid, and true nature, gathered and made manifest before us—from where does it come?

O Great King! When this world, after it has come into being, has its great earth consumed by fire; when the waters rise high and the winds blow fiercely—that flame burns up high into the void and consumes all so that nothing remains. It is like pouring oil into a fire to burn it: it does not cease.

Those waters rise high with nowhere to halt, as if everything cast into the water were all dissolved, all rendered turbid and mixed together, unable to be checked. Those winds blow fiercely so that no object whatsoever remains—just as when the Vairambhaka wind is blowing, not a single bird can survive. This whole great trichiliocosm of three-thousandfold worlds is entirely like this.

When fire burns it, water sweeps it away, and wind blows it, then at that time it cannot be seen, and that firm and true nature is thus brought to ruin and destruction. Whither, then, does it go? What is here said of the outer realm of earth is, in the inner realm of earth, likewise so.

Together with all other worlds, whether inner or outer, it is likewise so. Therefore, when all dharmas arise, they come from nowhere; and when they perish, they have nowhere to go. Thus, whatever has arising decidedly returns, all of it, to emptiness.

And once arisen, its self-nature too is, all of it, empty.

The Ajātaśatru King Sūtra says: At that time King Ajātaśatru, in his palace, made offerings of food to the World-Honored One and to the great assembly of Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas. When the washing of hands and the rinsing of bowls were finished, before the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (Wondrous Auspiciousness) he sat with reverence to hear and receive the true Dharma.

The King said: Bodhisattva, may you cause my evil deeds to be dispelled and removed.

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! Even Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, could still not cause your evil deeds to be dispelled and removed.

When King Ajātaśatru heard these words, he was terrified, could not be saved, and prostrated himself, casting his body upon the ground. At that time the Venerable Mahākāśyapa at once said to the King: Stop, Great King! Do not give rise to terror. This is the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, who for your benefit speaks to you of causes and conditions; and so he asks in this way. For what reason and by what condition does the Bodhisattva speak thus?

At that time King Ajātaśatru rose up from the ground and addressed the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, saying: For what reason has the Bodhisattva spoken thus?

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! Why is this so? Is there in your mind a condition by which you behold the Buddha, the World-Honored One?

The King said: There is none.

Mañjuśrī said: How do you contemplate that mind as arising?

The King said: It cannot be done.

Mañjuśrī said: Contemplate the mind ceasing.

The King said: It cannot be done.

Mañjuśrī said: Contemplate conditioned dharmas.

The King said: It cannot be done.

Mañjuśrī said: Is there, in the Buddha, the World-Honored One, any indication within conditioned dharmas?

The King replied: There is none.

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! What do you think? If among all dharmas there is no dharma to be contemplated, can there yet be contained within them any dharma that may be dispelled and removed?

The King replied: It cannot be.

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! It is by reason of this condition that I act and speak. Even were there Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, they could still not, for your sake, dispel and remove your evil. Furthermore, Great King! Suppose from out of the void either smoke or dust wished to defile empty space—what do you think? Could this smoke and dust defile empty space?

The King said: It cannot be.

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! Again, suppose a person were to say words such as these: "I wish to purify empty space"—could that empty space be purified?

The King replied: It cannot be.

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! The Tathāgata is likewise so, being together with empty space. It is said that all dharmas, from their very origin and in their continuity, are by self-nature undefiled. They are not dharmas that can be truly contemplated as either defiled or pure. How then, in that case, could one speak of any place to be dispelled and removed? Great King! Regarding this meaning, I see clearly in accord with reality, and so I speak and act. Even were there Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, they could still not, for your sake, dispel and remove your evil deeds.

Furthermore, Great King! As for the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones: within, there is nothing to be apprehended, nothing to be a beginning; without, there is likewise nothing to be apprehended, nor again anything to be a beginning. Why is this so?

Because the self-nature of all dharmas is wholly without any place of arising. And because the self-nature of dharmas is without any place of arising, there is then no place where the arising of nature is accumulated. Why is this so?

Because the self-nature of all dharmas is without any place of arising, there is then no place where they are established. Because all dharmas are without any place of establishment, there is then no place where they are accumulated. Because all dharmas are without any place of accumulation, there is then no arising.

Because all dharmas are without any place of arising, those dharmas are apart from nature. Because all dharmas are apart from nature, they cannot do harm. Because all dharmas cannot do harm, there is no arising.

Because all dharmas have no arising, there is no dharma of maturation (vipāka). Because all dharmas are without any maturation, there is no producing of activity. Because all dharmas are without any producing of activity, there is no place of defilement.

Because all dharmas are without any place of defilement, their self-nature is luminous. Because the self-nature of all dharmas is luminous, those dharmas are pure. Because all dharmas are pure, they are comparable to empty space.

Because all dharmas are comparable to empty space, there is no remedy or counteragent. Because all dharmas are without any remedy, they are apart from the two. Because all dharmas are apart from the two extremes, they are dharmas without boundary.

Because all dharmas are without boundary, they are without shore or limit. Because all dharmas are without shore or limit, they are without any ultimate. Because all dharmas are without any ultimate, they are without any place of reliance.

Because all dharmas are without any place of reliance, in all places they abide without inversion. Because all dharmas abide in all places without inversion, the permanent, the blissful, the self, and the pure cannot be apprehended. Because all dharmas are permanent, they correspond to that which is without movement or shifting.

Because all dharmas are pure, that is to say, their self-nature is luminous, producing the bliss of dharmas; this corresponds to (is the same as) non-discrimination. Because all dharmas are by self-nature "self," this corresponds to the indication of non-self. Because all dharmas are without evil action, the inner mind is stilled and at peace.

Because all dharmas are not real, that is to say, in the supreme-meaning truth, there is no place where they can be established. Because all dharmas are tranquil and quiescent, that is the mark of universal quiescence. Because all dharmas are without self, the self and what belongs to the self are apart from each other.

Because all dharmas are unconditioned, that is the mark of liberation. Because all dharmas are apart from names, the differentiation of names cannot be apprehended. Because all dharmas are without discrimination, they are apart from the many kinds of nature.

Because all dharmas are of one savor, that is the universal embrace of liberation. Because all dharmas are apart from marks, they are without any minute mark. Because all dharmas are without marks, the pure condition that is their object cannot be apprehended.

Because all dharmas are empty, all seeing and doing are apart. Because all dharmas are without wishing, they transcend the three times. Because all dharmas have the three times severed, past, future, and present cannot be apprehended.

Because all dharmas are universally embraced by Nirvāṇa, that is ultimate non-arising.

O Great King! What do you think? If a dharma is non-arising and moreover not accumulated, can there yet be, within it, any place of defilement?

The King replied: There is none.

Mañjuśrī said: And is there, moreover, any dharma that can be dispelled and removed?

The King said: There cannot be.

Mañjuśrī said: O Great King! It is by reason of this that the Tathāgata knows that all dharmas, together with Nirvāṇa, on up to therein, have no evil action that can be dispelled and removed. Therefore, Great King!

That which corresponds to the profound and firm (the profound, firm, and solid) should be done in this way. With a mind free of inversion, one should make this clear just as it truly is. Once this has been made clear, then, in accord with the occasion, there is no minute dharma whatever that can be taken up or cast away, nor any dharma that can be co-abiding.

If all dharmas cannot be co-abiding, then this teaching is for the sake of lightness and ease. If a dharma is light and at ease, it is a tranquil and quiescent dharma. If a dharma is tranquil and quiescent, it is a dharma of self-nature.

If a dharma is of self-nature, it is without self-nature. Because all dharmas are without self-nature, they are without master or sovereign. O Great King!

Therein one should practice the forbearance toward dharmas (dharma-kṣānti). And this too is such that there is no dharma that can be done. Why is this so?

O Great King! Because what is done is tranquil and quiescent. Having clearly understood in this way, one then realizes Nirvāṇa.

Within this, there is moreover no dharma whatever that can be done. Yet neither is there an absence of anything done. Whether one acts or does not act, this all returns to the tranquil and quiescent Nirvāṇa.

End of the Treatise on the Essential Meaning of the Jewel-Store of the Great Vehicle, Fascicle 7.